Shoes for walking on water

ABSTRACT

Shoes which enable a person to walk on the water are disclosed. The shoes comprise an elongated buoyant body member having a fixed volume propulsion chamber therein in combination with a passage whereby said chamber is in open communication with the atmosphere.

United States Patent 11 ,1

Webster 1451 May 7,1974

[ SHOES FOR WALKING ON WATER [76] Inventor: Neal R. Webster, 267 W. 71st St.,

New York, NY. 10023 [22] Filed: Aug. 9, 1972 [21] App]. No.: 279,191

52 US. Cl 9/310 1) [51] Int. Cl. A63c 15/04 [58] Field of Search 9/310 R, 310 D, 310 A,

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,541,623 11/1970 Duda 9/310 D 1,476,905 12/1923 Mardus 9/310 D 3,601,828 8/1971 Fairchild 9/310 D 1,014,993 1/1912 Anderson 9/310 D 3,229,312 1/1966 Smith 9/310 A 364,277 6/1887 Moore 9/3 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Popular Science, How You Can Walk On Water, pp. 134-135 June 1959.

Primary Examiner-Milton Buchler Assistant Examiner-Randolph A. Reese Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Eyre, Mann & Lucas [57] ABSTRACT Shoes which enable a person to walk on the water are disclosed. The shoes comprise an elongated buoyant body member having a fixed volume propulsion chamber therein in combination with a passage whereby said chamber is in open communication with the at- 1 mosphere.

10 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures SHOES FOR WALKING ON WATER The present invention relates to a new and useful structure enabling a person to walk on the surface of both salt and fresh water bodies.

So-called water shoes" have been previously'known for enabling a person to walk on the surface of the water. Prior art devices, however, have had the disadvantage of being difficult to maneuver, slow in action, unstable to stand upon and movement can generally only be made in a forward direction. As a result, these water shoes have not found acceptance among the general consuming public despite the. fact that they would have not only recreational utility but would also permit boat owners to walk back and'foith to their yachts,rather than having to tow a dinghy or wait for a launch.

ln accordance with the present invention there is provided a new and useful watershoe which can be operated quite rapidly, is easily maneuverable, and is quite stable as compared to prior art devices. These advantages are obtained by having a propulsion chamber of fixed volume within the confines of the shoe and by having the shoes diverge-from the parallel at the rearward ends thereof. While in the preferred embodiment both of these features are employed it will be understood that either feature can be employed independently and be of advantage.

Other features of the present invention may be more fully understood with reference to the drawing illustrating the preferred embodiments of the present invention and in which:

FIG. 1, is a top view of a water shoe made in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a section of FIG. 1 through line 22 and FIG. 3 shows a pair of water shoes with diverging rear sections.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 there is shown a water shoe made in accordance with the present invention. The water shoe shown could be either the left or right shoe. The shoe has a foot opening 12 which preferably has an indented portion 14 for receiving the forward part of the foot of the wearer. While this is the preferred form of affixing the shoe to the wearers foot since it places the wears foot closer to the center of gravity of the shoe thus giving better balance, it will be understood that-the wearers foot could rest'on the top 16 of the shoe and be heldin place by known means such as straps, stirrups or the like.

A chamber 18 of fixed volume is provided within the confines of the shoe for propulsion. While the chamber of fixed volume is shown with vanes 20 which is the preferred form, it will be understood that these vanes are not necessary and that propulsion could be effected solely by means of pushing water against the forwardly extending recess 22 of the chamber. The chamber is in open communication with the water through the bottom of the shoe and is in open communication with the atmosphere by means of holes 24 which aid in the mobility of the shoe and the speed with which it can be operated. Open communication with the atmosphere is preferably provided for each section of the chamber 18 as shown, but it will be appreciated that the shoe will still have advantage if only one section of the chamber is in open communication with the atmosphere.

The I open communication with the atmosphere is preferably selective by means of valves so that there is no communication when downward force is imparted to the shoe and completely open communication when downward force is lessened on the shoe. The preferred valve means comprises buoyant balls 26 as shown or flapper valves 27 as shown but the valves could, of

course, be other known valving means if desired.

The forwardend of the shoe 28 is preferably provided with a tapered portion 30 for easier forward movement in the water and the rearward portion 32 is preferably provided with a tapered portion 34 so that the center bottom portion 36 of the shoe is of reduced length whereby turning of the shoe is facilitated.

In operation, the wearer lifts one foot out of the water and advances it forward against the force of rearward thrust imparted to the shoe remaining in the water. The fixed volume chamber of the shoe in the water fills with water and substantially prevents any movement of this shoe. The shoe which has been advanced is then placed in the water and the rearward shoe is lifted. Because of the open communication between the chamber 18 and the atmosphere, the water exits quickly from the chamber 18 and thereby provides the least possible resistance to forward movement of the rearward shoe.

The chamber 18 is of fixed volume within the confines of the shoe since this has been found to provide maximum advancing speed as opposed to prior art shoes which do not have a fixed volume chamber, and is furthermore easy to manufacture and of a sturdier construction than shoes with propulsion chambers of varying volume as for example shown in U. S. Pat. Nos. 3,112,504, 3,108,296 and 3,134,114. In addition, the fixed volume propulsion chamber enables the wearer to move sidewaysand even backwards which is virtually impossible with prior art shoes having varying volume propulsion chambers.

The shoe itself is constructed of a buoyant material such as closed cell styrofoam. Other suitable materials will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and include rigid polyurethane foam, cork, and the like. Alternatively, the shoe could be made of inflatable material such as polyethylene or could even be made of a rigid material such as aluminum with a substantial portion thereof of closed hollowed-out construction to provide buoyancy.

The dimension of the shoe will vary according to the weight of the intended user. It has been found that a length of 65 inches, a width of 10 inches and a depth of 8 inches in the center section is suitable for use by a pound man when the shoe is made of standard closed cell styrofoam.

In FIG. 3, is shown an alternative embodiment of the invention in which the rearward portions of the water shoes diverge when the forward portions of the shoes abut each other. The rearward diverging ends aid in the stability and the balance of the wearer and also enable the wearer to turn more easily. As to the latter point it will be appreciated that when it is desired to turn to the right, right shoe 38 can be turned away from left shoe 40 to a considerable degree because of the diverging rearward sections 42 and 44. If the shoes were completely straight as shown in FIG. 1, the wearer could not turn himself so quickly as he can with the shoes of FIG. 3 since the rearward portions of the shoe would come into contact and interfere with each other more quickly. When the shoes are lined up in the normal position for moving forward, it is preferred that the edge faces 46 and 48 of the rearward sections 42 and 44 respectively diverge at an angle of from about 5 to about 25 from a center line 50 between the shoes preferably from 9 to and for best results the angle of divergence is about 11.

The outside face 52 of the right shoe is shown in its lower portion extending straight back throughout the length of the shoe rather than diverging with the back portion 42. This aids in the forward movement of the shoe since if the entire back portion were at an angle it would create additional resistance when the shoe is moved forward if it is not completely removed from the water. The inside face of the shoe, on the other hand, should preferably follow the line of the rearward section since it would otherwise interfere with the turning capability of the shoe.

With the pair of shoes with diverging rear sections, it is preferable to put the foot openings 12 at a slight angle so that the toe portions of the foot openings point away from each other since this gives better stability, especially in preventing the shoes from separating from each other under the weight of the wearer.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the fixed volume propulsion chamber is shown at the forward end of the shoe. The propulsion chamber is the same in concept as the propulsion chamber of FIG. 1, but differs in construction in that the chamber is in communication with the water along the side of the shoe rather than along the bottom thereof. As in FIG. 1, the chamber 52 is preferably provided with partitions 54 and open communication with the atmosphere is provided by means of holes 56. Again as in FIG. 1, valve means are preferably provided in conjunction with the holes 56.

It will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the propulsion chamber could be in communica tion with the water in both the sides and the bottom of the embodiment in FIGS. 1 and 3 and it will further be readily apparent that the propulsion chamber could be in either the front or the rear section of either the embodiment of FIG. 1 or FIG. 3 or it could be in both sections or it could be throughout the length of the shoe. Similarly, the rearward diverging sections could be on the front instead of the rear if desired, or, obviously both the front and rear sections could diverge.

Since many variations will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art it will be understood that the drawings herewith shown are for the purpose of illustration only and that the claims are intended to cover all changes and modifications of the preferred embodiment which do not constitute departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.

1 claim: 1. A pair of shoes for walking on water comprising:

a. two shoes, each shoe being an elongated buoyant structure comprising top, bottom and sides;

b. a chamber of fixed volume within the confines of each said structure;

c. each said chamber having a first opening in the bottom or side of its shoe operative to pennit water to enter the chamber when downward pressure is applied to that shoe in water and operative to permit water to exit the chamber when upward pressure is applied to that shoe in water;

d. said chamber having a second opening in the top of its shoe operative to permit air to exit the chamber when downward pressure is applied to that shoe and operative to permit air to enter the chamber when upward force is applied to that shoe;

e. a buoyant valve means associated with each said second openings, said valve means being operative to stop water from exiting the chamber through the second opening when downward pressure is applied to the shoe in water; and

f. the buoyancy of the pair of shoes being sufficient to support the weight of the wearer in water.

2. The pair of shoes of claim 1 wherein each chamber is partitioned into sections.

3. The pair of shoes of claim 1 wherein the chamber is partitioned into sections and each of the partitioned sections has a first opening and a second opening operative as described in parts (c) and (d) respectively of claim 1.

4. The pair of shoes of claim 3 wherein valve means is associated with each said second openings, said valve means being operative to close when downward force is imparted to a shoe in water and said valve means being operative to open when upward force is imparted to said shoe.

5. The pair of shoes of claim 1 wherein valve means is associated with each said second openings, said valve means being operative to close when downward force is imparted to a shoe in water and said valve means being operative to open when upward force is imparted to said shoe.

6. The pair of shoes of claim 5 wherein the valve means comprises a spherical ball in communication with a circular aperture.

7. The pair of shoes of claim 1 wherein:

a. corresponding end sections of each structure are at an angle to the main body of the structure, and

b. said corresponding end sections diverge at an angle of from about 5 to about 25 from the center line between the two shoes when the two shoes abut each other and are aligned in their normal position for forward movement.

8. The pair of shoes of claim 7 wherein the corresponding end sections are the rearward sections and the distance on the outside of the diverging section from the top of each shoe to the bottom of the diverging section of that shoe is less than the distance on the inside of the diverging section of that shoe from the top of that shoe to the bottom of the diverging section of that shoe.

9. The pair of shoes of claim 7 wherein the end sections diverge from the said center line at an angle of about 11.

10. The pair of shoes of claim 1 wherein the bottoms of each shoe comprises three sections including a center section, a front section tapered from the center section up towards the forward end of the shoe and a rear section tapered up from the center of the shoe to the rear end of the shoe. 

1. A pair of shoes for walking on water comprising: a. two shoes, each shoe being an elongated buoyant structure comprising top, bottom and sides; b. a chamber of fixed volume within the confines of each said structure; c. each said chamber having a first opening in the bottom or side of its shoe operative to permit water to enter the chamber when downward pressure is applied to that shoe in water and operative to permit water to exit the chamber when upward pressure is applied to that shoe in water; d. said chamber having a second opening in the top of its shoe operative to permit air to exit the chamber when downward pressure is applied to that shoe and operative to permit air to enter the chamber when upward force is applied to that shoe; e. a buoyant valve means associated with each said second openings, said valve means being operative to stop water from exiting the chamber through the second opening when downward pressure is applied to the shoe in water; and f. the buoyancy of the pair of shoes being sufficient to support the weight of the wearer in water.
 2. The pair of shoes of claim 1 wherein each chamber is partitioned into sections.
 3. The pair of shoes of claim 1 wherein the chamber is partitioned into sections and each of the partitioned sections has a first opening and a second opening operative as described in parts (c) and (d) respectively of claim
 1. 4. The pair of shoes of claim 3 wherein valve means is associated with each said second openings, said valve means being operative to cLose when downward force is imparted to a shoe in water and said valve means being operative to open when upward force is imparted to said shoe.
 5. The pair of shoes of claim 1 wherein valve means is associated with each said second openings, said valve means being operative to close when downward force is imparted to a shoe in water and said valve means being operative to open when upward force is imparted to said shoe.
 6. The pair of shoes of claim 5 wherein the valve means comprises a spherical ball in communication with a circular aperture.
 7. The pair of shoes of claim 1 wherein: a. corresponding end sections of each structure are at an angle to the main body of the structure, and b. said corresponding end sections diverge at an angle of from about 5* to about 25* from the center line between the two shoes when the two shoes abut each other and are aligned in their normal position for forward movement.
 8. The pair of shoes of claim 7 wherein the corresponding end sections are the rearward sections and the distance on the outside of the diverging section from the top of each shoe to the bottom of the diverging section of that shoe is less than the distance on the inside of the diverging section of that shoe from the top of that shoe to the bottom of the diverging section of that shoe.
 9. The pair of shoes of claim 7 wherein the end sections diverge from the said center line at an angle of about 11*.
 10. The pair of shoes of claim 1 wherein the bottoms of each shoe comprises three sections including a center section, a front section tapered from the center section up towards the forward end of the shoe and a rear section tapered up from the center of the shoe to the rear end of the shoe. 